The invention related to the field of gyroscopes, and in particular a quantum-based gyroscope that provides a sensitive and stable three-axis gyroscope in the solid state.
Conventional commercial gyroscopes are built using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology that allows for sensitivities exceeding 3 (mdeg s−1)/√{square root over (Hz)} in a hundreds of micron-sized footprint. Despite several advantages—including low current drives (˜100 μA) and large bandwidths (200 deg/s)—that have allowed MEMS gyroscopes to gain ubiquitous usage, they suffer from one critical drawback: The sensitivity drifts after a few minutes of operation, making them unattractive for geodetic applications. The intrinsic reason for these drifts formation of charged asperities at the surface of the capacitive transduction mechanism is endemic to MEMS but does not occur in other systems used as gyroscopes, such as atom interferometers or nuclear spins. However, to achieve sensitivities comparable to MEMS, these systems require large volumes (˜cm3), long startup times, and large power and space overheads for excitation and detection.